1. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AOS2 CREATING A NEW SOCIETY
‘Soviet Russia will come out of NEP Russia’
The New Economic Policy

2. Learning Intention: Explain the causes and characteristics of the New Economic Policy
Recall when the New Economic Policy was introduced
Explain the four central ‘planks’ of the NEP
Outline why the Bolshevik’s implemented the NEP
Explain how the NEP was different to the policies of War Communism
Identify how the NEP contradicts Lenin’s former ideological position

3. 1920: Bolshevik control over Civil War
ECONOMIC CRISIS:
War Communism
SOCIAL CRISIS
Kronstadt Uprising
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS:
New Economic Policy
(NEP)
1921: The Critical Year

4. The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): When.
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS
The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): When.
Lenin at the Tenth Party Congress, March 1921
March 1921: Lenin introduced NEP at the Tenth Party Congress
Ironically it formulated and introduced some of the demands of the Kronstadt petition, at the very same time that the Kronstadt uprising was occurring in Petrograd

5. The New Economic Policy(N.E.P): What.
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS
Essentially the NEP reversed the policies of War Communism, and was based on four central planks:
1. Militarised aspects of workplace conditions abandoned
2. Grain requisitioning abolished. Replaced by tax (i.e: a percentage of a famer’s harvest). Farmers could keep surplus and sell it if they wished. Worst effected famine areas exempt from tax
3. Cash wages reintroduced, meaning rationing and government distribution of food was abolished
4. Economic ties with foreign countries slowly opened up. Markets and private trading legalised

6. The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): Why?
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS
The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): Why?
According to Lenin, an unfortunate but necessary step (not unlike the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
According to Lenin, the NEP was ‘State Capitalism’ whereby there was coexistence of private property with communist property
According to Lenin, the NEP was bridled capitalism – capitalism that was restrained, controlled and exploited
Behind closed doors, Lenin admitted the NEP was a desperate response to the economic crisis in Russia, and that it was a strategic retreat

7. The New Economic Policy(N.E.P):How?
WAR COMMUNISM (1918 – 1921)
NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (1921 – 1928)
Why introduced?
Every aspect of economic and social life directed toward winning the Civil War
To provide food for a starving population that in turn would regain public confidence in the Bolshevik government
Key characteristics
A planned and deliberate policy
Discriminated against the peasants through heavy food requisitioning
Peasants had no choice as surplus confiscated
State control over the economy
Industry and production limited
Consistent with communist ideals
Attempted socialism
Unplanned and a reaction to economic crisis of 1920 – 21
Favoured peasants through less tax and greater rewards and incentives for producing a surplus
Individual and private control over the economy
Industry and production encouraged
Departure from Communist ideals
Allowing aspects of Communism
Key quote
‘War Communism... Involved the drastic mobilization of the whole national economy to serve the needs of the war... It meant attacking the interests of the mass of the peasants and workers (Thomson)
‘The NEP was, in the space of a few months, already giving marvellous results. From one week to the next, the famine and the speculation were diminishing perceptibly... The public were beginning to recover its breath’ (Serge)
Results
Widespread famine
Industrial and agricultural production fell alarmingly
Widespread anti-Bolshevik uprisings
Grain harvest doubled between 1921 and 1925
Railways transported twice as much and average monthly wage of factory worker increased 150%
Greater support from peasants and workers yet confusion from party members and Civil War veterans
Effect
ECONOMIC FAILURE
ECONOMIC RECOVERY

8. The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): Analysis
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS
The New Economic Policy (N.E.P): Analysis
No economic blueprint or master plan was implemented by the Bolsheviks: merely a response to a series of desperate situations
Lenin asserted that ‘we must not be afraid of communists learning from bourgeoisie specialists’: Contradicting his earlier ideological assertions
Despite the pragmatic necessity of a change from War Communism, for traditional communists it was nothing short of treason

9. Summary
The NEP replaced the War Communism as the driving policy behind Bolshevik government in March 1921
A form of ‘bridled capitalism’, it compromised many of the ideals of Leninism and Marxism, and despite delivering much needed reforms, was not well accepted by many Bolsheviks